Nevada Legislature opens 4-month lawmaking session

A tax on recreational marijuana and funding for public education among the issues expected to stir debate in Carson City.

By BEN BOTKIN LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

February 7, 2017 - 10:36 am

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, middle, holds back tears as he's given a round of applause after being sworn in during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. Frierson is the first African American to hold the position. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Attendees walk into the Legislative Building during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Attendees mingle before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Wayne, left, Kellen and Lucas Thorley, with Kim Perondi and Cadence Matijevich, walk into the Legislative Building during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, top/middle, waves to attendees before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assembly speaker Jason Frierson, right/bottom, is sworn in during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson claps for newly sworn in legislators during the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Veterans Mitch Roach, left, and John F. Warden salute the flag during the National Anthem on the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Sofia Davis, left, works on some art with Candace Monroe-Speed before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Attendees walk into the Legislative Building during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, right, gives a round of applause to the family members of fellow assemblymen in attendance during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. Frierson is the first African American to hold the position. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Wayne, left, Lucas and Kellen Thorley and Kim Perondi walk into the Legislative Building during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson shakes hands with Assemblyman Keith Pickard before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, top/middle, looks down on the assembly chamber before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Jeff Thompson, right, takes family photos before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, top/middle, waves to his family during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. Frierson is the first African American to hold the position. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

New Assemblymen are sworn in during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Michael Needleman, left, shakes hands with Chris Miller, chairman of the Clark County Democratic Party, before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Lucas Thorley puts his head in his dad Wayne's lap, while brother Kellen watches a ceremony during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building. in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, top/middle, gives a round of applause to the family members of fellow assemblymen in attendance during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. Frierson is the first African American to hold the position. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, top/middle, interacts with guests before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, top/middle, waves to attendees before the start of the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assemblyman William McCurdy II, left, straightens his corsage during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

Assemblywoman Teressa Benitez-Thompson claps for Assemblymen Jason Frierson during the first day of the Nevada Legislative session on Monday, Feb. 6, 2017, at the Legislative Building, in Carson City. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

CARSON CITY — Sharp fault lines between Republican and Democratic leaders in the state Senate became even wider Monday as the Nevada Legislature began its 79th session.

Opening day is usually filled with pomp, ceremony and pledges to work together in a bipartisan spirit.

But that changed with the speech of Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas.

He drew the ire of Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson by saying the body will look at “extreme and unnecessary legislation” the GOP-led Legislature passed in 2015. Roberson called it “a caustic, political speech on Day One.”

It was against this backdrop that legislators started their 120-day stretch of lawmaking and debate over issues like a tax on recreational marijuana and funding for public education.

Jason Frierson, the state’s first African-American speaker of the Assembly, was installed as leader of the 42-member chamber.

His speech had a much more inclusive tone.

The Las Vegas Democrat came to power as his party regained control of both chambers of the Nevada Legislature in the 2016 election. In the Assembly, Democrats have a 27-15 majority, and Frierson was unanimously voted its leader.

SENATE CONFLICT

Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison gaveled the Senate to order, and new state senators took the oath of office. Senate Democrats hold an 11-9-1 majority in the chamber.

In his opening comments, Ford urged senators to embrace the state’s diversity.

“Take a look around,” he said. “This is Nevada. This is America. Democrats, Republicans, an independent.”

Ford, the second African-American majority leader in the Nevada Senate, laid out an aggressive agenda for the Democratic caucus that includes raising the minimum wage, expanding voting opportunities, granting equal pay for women and providing affordable child care.

“We’ll take another look at last session’s extreme and unnecessary legislation that targeted the pocketbooks of working men and women by slashing wages for construction workers, limiting project-labor agreements and attacking collective bargaining rights,” Ford said.

That drew a rebuke from Roberson.

“I have never seen a majority leader give a caustic, political speech on Day One,” Roberson said afterward. “He is setting a very negative tone.”

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s spokeswoman, Mari St. Martin, weighed in the prospect of rolling back legislation that passed in 2015.

“The governor believes it would be ill-advised to begin a new legislative session by trying to undo past progress, some of which was passed with bipartisan support,” she said in a statement. “He looks forward to watching the Legislature debate pressing issues like criminal justice reform, education funding, and workforce development and passing sound bipartisan measures aimed at improving the lives of Nevadans.”

Ford also said senators should respect decorum.

“We will not be combative. We will discuss and debate, but we will not destroy one another,” he said.

There were undercurrents of contention between the two parties even before the session began. Roberson last month threatened to stymie Democrats who took control in the November election and who opposed a GOP law last session establishing education savings accounts, a school voucher program.

Roberson said unless Democrats agree to ESAs, Republicans will vote against the state budget.

ASSEMBLY ACTIVITY

In the Asssembly, Frierson spoke of his roots growing up in a hardscrabble neighborhood in Compton, California, before making his way to Reno on a football scholarship.

He thanked prior speakers, including Barbara Buckley, who became the first female speaker of the Assembly a decade ago.

“I embrace this opportunity and responsibility with the recognition that by breaking this ceiling, there is one less ‘first’ still to be achieved in Nevada’s history,” he said. “I do not take this role in Nevada’s history lightly. I fully recognize that in selecting me as speaker, our contribution to the richness of Nevada’s history means we send a message that Nevada embraces all who are committed to serving.”

Frierson said work remains to improve public education, even with a tax increase passed in 2015 to better fund schools.

“We still have kids falling behind, test scores that need improving and accountability in the classroom that must be part of the solution,” he said. “We still have underpaid and overworked teachers dipping into their own pockets to provide supplies and resources for the classroom. We still struggle to recruit and retain the best teachers, and struggle to provide adequate incentives for teachers to take on the most challenging at-risk schools. ”

“Regardless of your party affiliation, and after sometimes bruising campaigns, we are now required to put aside our partisan differences and instead to do what is best for all Nevadans,” Anderson told lawmakers.

About 200 prefiled bills were introduced in the Assembly or Senate on Monday.